Method of changing a mounting



March 17, 1970 w. F. WRIGHT. f 35 5 METHOD OF CHANGING A" MOUNTING Filed Feb. 27. 1968 v 3 Sheets-Sheet l "4- INVENTOR= WIXUAM F. WRIGHT,

ms ATTORNEY.

March 17, 1970 w, .w 1 3,500,531

METHOD OF CHANGING A MOUNTING Filed Feb. 27. 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 52 BY 5 9 a {I H\S ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,500,531 METHOD OF CHANGING A MOUNTING William Finley Wright, P.O. Box 403,

Vestal, N.Y. 13850 Filed Feb. 27, 1968, Ser. No. 709,597 Int. Cl. B23p 7/00 U.S. Cl. 29-401 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method of repairing by changing the rear mounting position of a device, such as an instrument, to a front mounting position, including widening the opening through which the instrument projects, so as to clear the passage for the instrument, removing and repairing the instrument, and remounting the instrument in a front mounting position.

The invention relates to the widening of openings, and relates more particularly to methods and a draw punch cutter for such widening.

It is sometimes necessary to remove a device, such as an instrument, from a panel to which access is available only from one side; yet the instrument had been mounted when access had been available from both sides, and extends on the opposite side. The instrument thus cannot be taken out for repair or testing, except upon either the removal of the entire panel or the removal of many other instruments or much other equipment; such removal, however, is not always possible, and at least usually time consuming and expensive.

It is accordingly among the principal objects of the invention to provide a method for removing from a panel and subsequently re-mounting thereon only a particular device, such as an instrument.

It is another object of the invention to remove such a device although it is in rear mounting position through the mounting opening, by first detaching the device and then widening the opening and subsequently removing the device through the widened opening and then re-mounting the device, but in front mounting position.

It is a further object of the invention to carry out such steps where the panel is accessible only from one side.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

With the above and other objects of the invention in view, the invention consists in the novel methods, construction, arrangement and combination of various devices, elements and parts, as set forth in the claims hereof, certain embodiments of the same being illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the specification.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a wall having an opening for the mounting of a device, such as an instrument;

FIG. 2 is an extended fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1, and showing a portion of the wall and a template;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1, showing the instrument mounted in its original rear mounting position;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view, similar to FIG. 3, but showing the instrument subsequently re-mounted in frontal mounting position with the aid of an adapter plate;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the adapter plate shown in FIG. 4;

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FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a die member in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, taken on the line 6-6 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 77 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a die member in accordance with a modification, in contracted position;

FIG. 9 is an extended view in perspective, showing the cutter of the modification of FIG. 8, but the die member being shown in expanded position; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the assembled cutter in the expanded position.

In carrying the invention into effect in the embodiments which have been selected for illustration in the accompanying drawings and for description in this specification, and referring now particularly to FIGS. 1-3, a device such as an instrument 11 is shown mounted on the side, namely the rear side R of a panel 12. The instrument 11 is mounted on the panel 12, from the front by means of screws 13 that engage nuts 15 and protrude through first holes 14 in the enlarged portion 11' of the instrument 11. The face portion 16 of the instrument protrudes through a face opening 17 of the panel 12.

During the original mounting of the instrument on the panel 12, access was available not only from the front side F of the panel 12, but also from the rear side R of the front panel 12.

The type of instrument 11 involved may be an aircraft instrument, and the panel 12 an aircraft instrument panel. Usually, when the instruments are originally mounted on the panel, access is had from the front as well as from the rear of the panel; but after all the instruments have been installed, access thereafter usually is restricted to the front side F of the chanel 12.

The instant invention concerns itself with the dismounting of a rear mounted instrument, and the remounting thereof afterwards. Such a dismounting and re-mounting may be necessary where, for instance, the instrument 11 is found to be in need of repair, or to be tested, or to be replaced.

The instant invention may for example be concerned with converting a rear-mounted instrument to a front mounted instrument; and more particularly, to make such a conversion where access is had only from the front side of the panel 12.

In order to carry out this conversion, several operational steps are required which will be given hereinafter by way of example; and comprises the several steps and relation of one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others all as exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

As a first operational step, the rear-mounted instrument 11 is first unscrewed, or its screws 13 or other fasteners drilled out of the holes 14. Then a template 18 is placed at the front side F of the panel 12. The template 18 has pins 19 that are adapted to engage the first holes 14 of the panel 12. The template 18 has handles 21 (the template 18 and the handles 21 are shown in FIG. 2, and in dash-double-dot lines in FIG. 1). The template 18 has means, such as the apertures 22, or other suitable conventional means, for instance pins or the like, for permitting the marking of the second holes 23; after they have been marked, the second holes 23 will be drilled or punched by any conventional suitable means. These second holes 23 will ultimately be utilized to re-mount the instrument 11, as at the time of re-mounting the parts of the template near the holes 14, and including the holes 14, will have been removed off the panel 12 down to the "broken line 17' of FIG. 1. The line 17' indicates (in dash-single-dot-lines in FIG. 1). The contour of the apening after it has been widened, while 17 indicates (in olid line FIG. 1) the contour of the opening before the videning. V

' The instrument 11 is then pushed back from its normal )osition shown in FIG. 3. Subsequently, there is mounted hereon temporarily a holding and retrieval device, such lS a suction cup 24, of conventional construction, that 1as a handle 26. Once the suction cup 24 has been se- ;ured temporarily to the face portion 16 of the instrunent 11, it will remain there until the instrument 11 ms been removed from behind the panel 12 so that it can )e taken away from repair, test or exchange.

Before the instrument 11 can be removed from the "ear of the panel 12 to the front thereof it is, however, lecessary to widen, for example by cutting, the opening [7 to the widened opening contour 17' in order to clear he path of the instrument 11 through the panel 12. Usutlly it is not necessary to take any precaution against the lropping of the instrument 11 at the rear of the panel 12, )ecause other instruments are likely to be close by for iupporting the instrument 11 when it is pushed rearavardly from the panel 12. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, the instrument 11 carries a pressure line or cable l7 which will lend some additional support. Should it be iecessary, however, to support the instrument 11 after its icrews 13 have been removed, it may always be possible run a wire or string through the loop of the handle 26 or aroundthe instrument 11 and to support the other and of the wire or string somewhere in front of the panel 12.

The instrument 11 needs to be pushed back far enough rom the panel 12 to permit cutting out of the opening [7 to its widened contour 17 This cutting can be done by Ian'ous means, such as by a cutter using die members for cutting or punching out the part of the panel 12 that :xtends between the contours 17 and 17'. Removal by lie, however, is not the only way to remove that part )if the panel 12; instead, that part may be cut out by a iaber saw orby means of a torch, or by any other suitable well known cutting device, for instance, an ultra ionic cutting device. In order to delineate properly the :ontour 17 to which the cutting must be carried, the :emplate 18 may be used which has an internal contour hat corresponds to the contour 17'. Thus, the contour [7' may be marked, for instance by a scriber, on the panel 12; or the template 18, or a similar template that :an be bolted onto or otherwise mounted on the front aide F of the panel 12, may serve as a guide for the saber aaw or for the torch or other cutting device. Where a iaber saw is being used, care should be exercised to prevent that its vibrations cause any damage to any of he other instruments on the panel 12.

After the panel 12 has been cut out to the widened :ontour 17', an adapter plate 28 (FIGS. 4, 5) will be nounted on the instrument 11, with the aid of screws 29 1nd nuts 31, as best shown in FIG. 4. Thereafter, a Lhreaded clip, or several clips, 32 will be placed around he edge 17 The adapter plate 28 has inner holes 114 that corre- ;pond to the holes 14 and that match the holes of the nstrument 11, and outer holes 123 that correspond to ;he holes 23 of the panel 12. The clip 32 has correspond- .ng holes 223 near the front side F of the panel 12 and, 1ear the rear side R of the panel 12, the clip (or clips) 32 has threaded holes 323 which are aligned with the aoles 223.

Bolts 33 are passed from the front in the direction A hrough the holes 123, 223, 23 and the threaded holes 523, thereby completing the re-mounting as a front nounting of the instrument 11. In this re-mounted posi- ;ion, the enlarged portion 11 of the instrument 11 is no longer positioned against the rear side R of the panel 12 (FIG. 3), but is mounted instead in the widened opening 17 (FIG. 4).

The instant invention provides for a specific cutter for cutting the opening 17 from its original circular contour to the contour 17', as shown in FIG. 1. For this purpose, the instrument 11, after its screws 13 have either been unscrewed or drilled out, is pushed back far enough to permit the parts of the first die member described below, to be inserted through the original instrument face opening 17 from the front side F towards the rear side R of the panel 12.

The first die member 34, indicated in FIGS. 6 and 7, comprises a plurality of parts, for instance four parts 36, 37, 38, and 39. Each of these parts is sufficiently small to be passed through the unwidened opening 17. Together the parts 36-39 can be assembled to have the shape of the widened hole 17'. As indicated in FIG. 6, each part is provided with at least one extension, such as a shoulder bolt 41, though one or more parts, like the part 36, may be provided with more than one extension 41. The extensions 41 are so positioned on the respective parts that they are disposed within the contour of the unwidened opening 17, as shown in FIG. 6. In the assembled position, the parts 36-39 are near the rear side R of the panel 12 (see FIG. 7). p

In practice, the operator will grasp each of the parts 36-39, in a succession selected and, holding the extensions 41, he will assemble the parts 36-39 from the front side F of the panel 12 to be positioned on the rear side R. To hold the extensions 41 in their proper position, he will insert screws 50 through the holes 14 in the panel 12 and into corresponding threaded holes 49 that are provided in the parts 36, 37, and 39. They serve to position the die members 34 and 43 of the cutter relative to the opening 17, thereby to determine the subsequent position of the contour 17. He will then slip over the free ends of the extensions 41 a die plate 42, which forms a part of the second die member 43. The extensions 41, as previously mentioned, can be shoulder bolts as shown in FIG. 7, or may be any other suitable conventional extensions. The die plate 42 has apertures 44 that match the positions of the extensions 41 when the parts 36-39 have been assembled,

The die members 34 and 43 face each other from opposite sides about the panel 12; and the operator will move the die members close to the respective opposite side surfaces F and R, respectively, of the panel 12.

Thereafter, the operator will mount on the extensions 41 a backing plate or backing pressure plate 46, and secure retaining clips or nuts 47 on the extensions 41, to restrain temporarily the removal of the backing plate 46 off the extensions 41.

Dowels 48 may be provided between some or all of the adjoining parts of the first die member 34, to aid in maintaining temporarily their relative positions in the assembled state.

Various power means may be employed for the cutting, for instance shearing or tightening bolts may be provided for that purpose. For example, a central screw may be provided that is threaded through a threaded hole in the backing pressure plate 46 to push the two die members 34 and 43 together. Alternatively, a hydraulic ram 51 may be placed between the die plate 42 and the backing plate 46 and hydraulic pressure he applied thereto. Hydraulic rams of this type are well known, and comprise a cylinder and piston fed from a hydraulic source, such as a manual pump, air pump or electrically operated pump.

With the aid of ram 51, the cutter will enlarge the panel opening from its contour 17 to its contour 17', to permit the removal of the instrument 11 through the panel 12 thereafter.

Instead of manually placing the parts of the first die member 34 individually in succession near the rear side R of the panel 12, I provide in the modification of FIGS. 8-10 a cutter that permits the simultaneous placing of all the parts of the first die member behind the panel 12.

For this purpose I provide a die member 134 that has a plurality of parts, for instance four corner die parts 52. Between the corner parts 52 there are slidingly arranged connecting die bridge parts 53. Compression springs 54 are provided between each two adjoining corner parts 52, tending to push apart the corner parts 52 from the compact position of FIG. 8, in which the die 134 may pass through the unwidened opening 17, to the expanded position shown in FIG. in which the contour of the die member 134 matches that of the widened opening 17'.

To accommodate the sliding parts 53, the comer parts 52 are slotted at 56, Thus, the parts 53 and 52 are in sliding relation relative to each other along two planes at right angles, namely in the directions B and C of FIG. 10.

To limit the sliding apart of the parts 52, limiting means are provided such as grooves 57 that are formed in the connecting parts 53, and set screws 58 in the corner parts 52. These limiting means confine the extent of the aforementioned sliding. The grooves 57 of the con necting parts 53 do not extend throughout the lengths of the connecting parts 53; the set screws 58 slide in the grooves 57; thus the connecting parts 53 cannot fall olf the corner parts 52. The connecting parts 53 fit in dovetail fashion into the corner parts 52.

As best shown in FIG. 10, the edge portions 59 at the corner are leading as compared to the edges 61 of the connecting parts 53, and are also leading as compared to the receding edge portions 62 of the corner parts 52. Thus, during the cutting operation, the leading portions 59 will first engage the panel 12 in a cutting facilitating manner.

The operator will first compress the die 134 into the compacted position (FIG. 8) and thus'insert the cutting parts 52 and 53 through the opening 17. This compressing may be done manually or with an appropriate tool.

Then the operator will permit the die 134 to expand under the power of the springs 54.

Thereafter, the operator will mount the second die member 143 (FIG. 9). Each corner part 52 has an extension such as a shoulder bolt 141 that extends forwardly through the opening 17, and the second die member 143 has corresponding apertures 144 to receive the bolts 141.

The operator will subsequently mount the backing plate 146 over the bolts 141. Nuts may be mounted on the threaded ends 64 of the bolts 141 to prevent the removal of the backing plate 146 off the bolts 141. A pressure device, for instance the hydraulic ram 51 may be employed between the die member 143 and the backing plate 146 to push the die members 34 and 43 together to enlarge the hole 17 to 17'.

I Wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to be secured by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. In a method of changing the rear mounting of a device through an opening and first mounting holes in a panel, to a frontal mounting through said opening on an adapter plate: the steps comprising dismounting the device thereby uncovering the first holes, thereafter cutting second holes in relation to the first, subsequently widening the opening to clear passage for said device, connecting said device to said adapter plate, and mounting said adapter plate on said second holes with said device extending through said widened opening.

2. In a method, as claimed in claim 1, access being had only from one side of said panel, the steps of dismounting the device and subsequently re-mounting it from said one side.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,594,810 4/1952 Schaub et a1. 2940l 2,692,425 10/1954 Martin 29401 2,707,320 5/1955 Fish 29425 3,189,987 6/1965 Paterson 29416 THOMAS H. EAGER, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 29416, 425 

